This morning brought me to Dover, Indiana and St. John, the second-oldest parish in the state. But Mass itself was outside, as the parish celebrated its All Souls Mass on the adjacent cemetery. It was a typically moving Mass, even if the wind and nearby speeding semi-trucks occasionally made it a challenge to hear all of Father John’s Hollowell’s words.
Alas, I wasn’t the only infrequent visitor, to the St. John campus this morning. Hundreds arrived for a different reason – to exercise their right to vote, with a polling place set up in the parish’s community building behind the 200-year-old worship space.
As I reflected on this situation, I took some solace in the fact that by tomorrow, the ads, the campaigns, the charges, the counter-claims, the namecalling and all that accompanies these increasingly divisive political seasons will be over, at least for a little while.
But at the same time, the opportunity to worship, to pray, to give thanks and to partake in the Eucharist will continue to be available to me every day. We Americans may be as divided as ever, but here in our church, we can and will always be in communion.
52 Masses 